Livingston Academy school still trying to get charter

Children of the Grech family of Brighton occupy themselves in a clasroom play area at the planned charter school in the former Lindbom Elementary School. The Grech children, from left, are Michael, 9; Anthony, 4; Mary, 7; and Rita, 5.(Photo11: ALAN WARD/LIVINGSTON DAILY)

Livingston Classical Academy is still searching for a charter and will not be opening in the fall if a charter is not authorized by mid-May.

LCA — which will occupy the former Lindbom Elementary School in Brighton — has been turned down by one school district since American Classical Academies Brighton Holdings bought the vacant building in January.

LCA reached out to Brighton Area Schools for a charter, but the school board voted to not even consider the request.

ACA bought the building with intentions of opening a charter school.

"We still plan on pushing to find a charter regardless if we open this fall," said Dick Streetman, LCA development team leader. "We already have 200 interested families."

LCA has "many possibilities for a charter;" however, Streetman said because nothing is official, they were not disclosing any specific information on prospects.

"We are working with numerous" potential charters, he said.

Those interested in partnering with a charter have different needs when looking for a partner, which is what Streetman attributed to being turned down.

"One of the (former potential charter partners) told us that they were looking for a school that had a larger demographic need for a charter school, and since there are already several charter schools in the area, our location didn't fit their needs," said Phillip Kilgore, Hillsdale College charter school initiative director.

However, finding a charter can be a long process.

LCA officials were told it's not uncommon for a school to not receive a charter when first applying.

"We want people to know this school isn't going to be a Brighton school — it's going to be a Livingston County school," Streetman said. "Our goal is to draw from everywhere around the county and outside the county."

Building availability and location were two key factors that factored into choosing Brighton.

"This location is absolutely perfect for that whole geographic area, with U.S. 23 and I-96 coming together in the backyard here, so it's also the availability of a building," Streetman said.

A building outline shows for possible expansion for a high school in a couple of years.

With the current floor plan, the building should hold 600 students comfortably, which is what Lindbom housed.

With the additional high school — fully developed and if the program allowed for it — it could house 1,200 kids.

"It all depends how many kids the developing team wants," said Pat Battaglia, ACA Brighton Holdings landlord for the school building.

As of now, LCA would like to open with 400-480 students. Streetman said a majority of the 200 students interested in attending are currently homeschooled.

"I know there is some speculation that we will be taking out students from Brighton — how many, I can't say, but it will not be a majority of our students," he said. "A majority will be homeschooled children because they've already been exposed or taught the classical model. Our goal isn't to take any students away from where they currently are. We just want to share what we think is best with education."

LCA officials believe it's about giving families and kids a choice; they believe their educational model is "the correct way."

"If you want to come here, great, but we aren't out here to knock out or shut down any education systems," Streetman said. "We may have major disagreements, but we aren't here to shut anyone down."

If the charter school wants to use the curriculum Hillsdale College offers, the school must be vetted by Hillsdale and follow its rules.

Hillsdale College will be providing the academy curriculum through its Barney Charter School Initiative, which is where the college will support the launch of K-12 charter schools.

"We have a dual responsibility — first in the state and then to Hillsdale, because the whole reason we are in business is because of that curriculum," Streetman said.

Battaglia said he is a "devoted Christian who believes God taught in schools is a good thing," so when he got involved with charter schools in 2002 in North Carolina, he got together some people and developed an initiative that followed his belief.

"We developed an initiative to develop Christian schools nonsubjective — meaning anyone could attend, no matter what their needs," Battaglia said. "It was an endowment-based model."

This model was called American Christian Academy.

Once the company started to take off in 2006, the economy crashed two years later, so the company couldn't start any schools.

That was the end of American Christian Academy.

During 2008, Battaglia was introduced to Hillsdale College when it launched its charter initiative.

"I met with them, and we had some good conversations. They convinced me — and I truly believe this now — let's leave religion at home to be taught by parents," Battaglia said. "So, I still wanted to open a charter school, so I changed the acronym to American Classical Academy, but that is a development company that has nothing to do with running these schools."

Battaglia said the two companies are different but "happen to have the same acronym."

He also said he "understands completely" why people may be confused about the name and religion.

"No one has ever asked me 'How did this happen?' until right now," Battaglia said. "I don't apologize for who or what I am, and I don't always have the best filter."

Battaglia said he will not be a part of the day-to-day operations of the school because he is not qualified; he will only be the landlord.